Web Briefing – Serving the Homeless Community: New Findings on the Impact of the ACA Medicaid Expansion

Web Briefing – Serving the Homeless Community: New Findings on the Impact of the ACA Medicaid Expansion

The Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion provided a significant opportunity to increase health coverage and improve access to care for individuals experiencing homelessness, who historically have had high uninsured rates and often have multiple, complex physical and mental health needs.

On Tuesday, April 26 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET, KFF hosted a web briefing to examine new findings about how the Medicaid expansion has affected patients who are homeless, as well as the providers who care for them. The briefing addressed changes in insurance coverage, revenues and costs among Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) projects, a subset of community health centers that serve individuals who are homeless, in both expansion and non-expansion states, as well as examined experiences in health centers that serve a broad low-income population.

Samantha Artiga, an Associate Director of the Foundation’s Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, moderated the briefing, with key findings presented by Barbara DiPietro, Senior Director of Policy for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. Both are co-authors of a recent analysis.

Three health center leaders from two states – one an expansion and the other a non-expansion state – provide perspective: Andy Patterson, Director of Homeless Services, and Jacquelynn Engle, Outreach & Enrollment Director, Family Health Centers, Louisville, Kentucky and CindyFunkhouser, President and CEO, The Sulzbacher Center, Jacksonville, Florida.